Bag tying machine



Nov. 23, 1965 G. M. HADDocK 3,218,779

BAG TYING MACHINE Filed Maron 15, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Era. 3. /4

Eon/A20 D. OBR/AN AfraeA/.EY

l Nov. 23, 1965 G. M. HADDocK BAG TYING MACHINE Filed March l5, 1963 INVENTOR. 650265 M H4 0006K BY Eon/A20 D. @5P/AN United States Patent O M 3,218,779 BAG TYING IVIACHNE George M. Haddock, Santa Ana, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Royal Industries, Inc., Pasadena, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Mar. 13, 1963, Ser. No. 264,852 12 Claims. (Ci. 53 135) This invention relates to bag tying machines particularly adapted to make rapid closures upon the necks of small bags of merchandise. Bag tying machines of various sorts are well known in the prior art. Machines which are power operated and wrap wire around the necks of relatively large bags have been in use for some time. These machines occasionally carry provisions for actuation of the tying mechanism by a total weight of bag and contents. Such machines are large and expensive and such large power operated machines are economically feasible only where a relatively large output is required of them. They must be used in a continuous production line to become economically eicacious.

It is an object of this invention, however, to provide a manually operated bag tying machine of relatively economic design so that the labor saving advantages of bag tying equipment can become available to those organizations which do not have suicient volume of bag tying requirements to permit use of automatic, power operated bag tying equipment.

It is another object of this invention to provide a bag tying machine which is capable of applying wire, or wire containing, by twisting them around the neck of a bag to thereby effectively close the bag.

It is another object of this invention to provide bag tying equipment which is easily operable in a manual manner so that it can be operated by personnel without considerable strength for reasonably long periods of time.

It is another object of this invention to provide bag tying equipment which is of simple design and configuration both for the economic advantages thereof, but also because of the ease of maintenance and the ease of operation. Accordingly, the bag tying equipment of this invention can be operated and maintained without extensive and careful training.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon staudy of the following specication and appended drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the entire bag tying machine;

FIGURE 2 is a right side partial sectional elevation of the bag tying machine with its cover removed;

FIGURE 3 is a partial section taken along the line 3 3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a section taken along the line 4 4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a section taken along the line 5 5 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged view corresponding to the left end of FIGURE 2 in partial vertical section and shows the bag tying machine in an operative position; and

FIGURE 7 is a top View of the complete bag tying machine.

Referring now to the drawings, the overall external perspective view of the FIGURE 1 shows a bag tying machine 10. The bag tying machine 10 is secured to a surface such as a table by means of flanges 12 so that it will be rigid during use. The bag tying machine 10 is comprised of a main frame 14 of which the anges 12 are a part. A right-hand cover 16 is secured thereto by means of screws 18, see FIGURE 2, and a top cover 20 is secured to the main frame 14 by means of a knurled screw 22. The front of the machine is provided with an 3,218,779 Patented Nov. 23, 1965 ICS entrance 24 into which the neck of the bag to be tied is introduced and manually moved downward through the front channel 26 to the exit area 28 from whence the bag is manually Withdrawn after having been tied during this operation. The right-hand cover 16 of the bag tying machine 10 is provided with an aperture 30 designed for the introduction of reels of tying material as is hereinafter described.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 2 and 6, a spool shaft 32 mounted on the main frame 14 extends cantilevered outward to carry a spool 34 of bag tying material. The bag tying material may be any malleable strand capable of being twisted and taking a set in that position, but preferably includes soft iron wire, or more preferably, paper or plastic covered soft wire. In modern practice a soft wire is covered by binding a sheet of paper or plastic to each side of the wire so that the resultant structure is a flat tape having a soft wire core. It is this type of paper or plastic covered wire tie for which this bag tying machine is particularly adapted.

The tie material 36 is shown being unwound from the spool 34 under the control of a press spring 38 which prevents the spool 34 from running free. T he press spring 38 is mounted on the hub 49 by means of screw 42. Hub 40 is mounted on shaft 44 which is mounted in the main frame 14. Adjustment screw 46 through a boss in the main frame 14 engages upon hub 40 to adjust the strength of spring 38 on spool 34. By adjustment of screw 46 the proper tension is assured. The top of spring 38 is bent in a circumferential curve with respect to the shaft 44 and extends outwardly through a slot 48 in the back of the main frame 14. A bent end 50 on the spring 38 prevents the spring from passing inwardly by providing a stop thereon with respect to main frame 14. Additionally the bent end 5d serves as a finger hold for retracting spring 33 during the introduction of a new spool 34. A bracket 52 mounted to the main frame 14 carries a flexible tie material guide 54 and a rigid guide 56. Upon loading the bag tying machine with a tie material, the material 36 is introduced manually through guide 54 and thence through guide 56 to feed rolls 5S and 6G.

The feed rolls 58 and 60 are mounted within the machine upon a bracket 62, see FIGURE 6, upon shafts 64 and 66, respectively. Lower shaft 66 is rotatably mounted in bracket 62 and is driven by sprocket 68 in a manner hereinafter described. The drive connection between shaft 66 and the roll 60 is of the one direction type. The feed roll 60 is driven when the shaft 66 is rotated in the counter clockwise direction as viewed in FIGURE 6, but when the shaft 66 rotates in a clockwise direction the feed roll 60 is undriven. This drive mechanism may be by any conventional means such as a ratchet or sprag type one- Way clutches. The upper feed roll 58 rotates freely upon shaft 64 which is normally stationary within the bracket 62. However, the shaft 64 is of eccentric configuration whereby the axis upon which the feed roll 58 rotates is not coincident with the axis upon which the shaft 64 is mounted within the bracket 62. Accordingly, when the shaft 64 is rotated with respect to bracket 62, the amount of press between feed rolls 58 and 60 upon the tie material 36 is adjusted. Preferably both the rolls 53 and 6i) are of elastomeric materials so that they have the resiliency to properly engage the tie material 36 and so that feed roll 60 provided the necessary tractive effort to feed the material 36. The adjustment of eccentric shaft 64 is helpful in cases of changing the size or style of tie material 36 and in cases where the rollers 58 and 6) take a set or otherwise wear upon long use.

After coming through feed rolls 5S and 69, the tie material 36 passes through a guide 70 secured by a bracket 72. Guide 70 carries the material forward and directs Iserves as a shear blade so that the material 36 may be cut off in appropriate lengths for immediate use. After being fed out of the aperture 74, the material 36 is directed against guide 78 so that it is positioned for use.

Referring now more particularly to the sections of FIGURES 3 through 5, the main frame 14 carries a generally vertical channel 80 secured thereto. A second channel 82 is supported from channel 80 by means of cross blocks 84 and 86, see FIGURE 2, secured by yscrews 88. By this means both the channels 80 and 82 are supported from the same main frame 14 so that the cover 16 may be removed without disturbing the internal mechanism. The channels 80 and 82 face each other and form rails for the guidance of a vertically movable carriage 90. The carriage 90 carries three cross-shafts 92, 94 and 96, which each carry a pair of bearing wheels operating within the channels 80 and 82. Wheels 98 and are shown as being mounted on shaft 94. These wheels bear on the right-hand flanges of channels 80 and 82 as seen in FIGURE 3. The wheels on shafts 92 and 96, two of which are shown in FIGURE 2 and identified as wheels 102 and 104, bear upon the left-hand flange, as seen in FIGURE 3, of channels 80 and 82. By this structure guidance control of the vertical motion of the carriage 90 is assured. The wheels 98, 100, 102 and 104 have good bearings so that they roll easily and smoothly. They may be of the cam follower roller construction or of similar type of low friction design. The cross-block 84 serves as a lower end stop for the carriage. The carriage is of such dimensions that it abuts thereagainst in the lower terminal position.

The carriage 90 has secured to the right-hand side thereof, as viewed in FIGURE 6, one end of a chain 106. The chain passes upward over sprocket 68 and has its other end 108 secured to a spring 110. The lower end 112 of spring 110 is secured to one arm of crank 114 which is mounted on a shaft 116 secured to the main frame 14. Adjusting screw 118 passes through the other arm of crank 114 and engages upon abutment 120. Thus rotation of screw 118 adjusts the position of crank 114 and adjusts the tension of spring 110. Spring 110 acts as a counter balance for the carriage 90 and the mechanism carried thereon. Spring 110 also has sufficient force to move the carriage to its upward position. The upward position is shown in FIGURE 2, while the lower position is shown in FIGURE 6.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURE 4, the cutting block 76 carries thereon -a blade 122. This blade acts as a shear blade cooperating with the aperture 74 to provide a pair of shearing edges. The shear blade 122 is guided by means of guide block 124, secured to the face of cutting block 76. The guide block 124 has a slot cut therein to accept and guide the bottom 126 of the cutting blade 122. Springs 128 and 130 act between the blade 122 and the cutting block 76 to urge the blade 122 into a downward position. In this downward position the aperture 74 is exposed to permit the material 36 to pass therethrough. The bottom 126 of the blade 122 extends out of the bottom of guide block 124 into a position that permits it to be engaged by the top of carriage 90. The elements are positioned in such a way that when the carriage 90 rises upwardly under force of spring 110, it engages the bottom 126 of the blade 122 and thrusts the blade across the aperture 74 `thereby cutting olf a length of the tie material 36. The balance of forces between springs 128, 130 and 110 is such, however, that the springs 128 and 130 thrust the blade 122 downward sufficiently far to open the aperture 74 for the next feeding operation. Thus it is the inertial force of the upwardly moving carriage 90 that accomplishes the actual cutting off operation.

Bar 132 is supported on the front of channel 82, and bar 134 is supported on the front of channel 80. These bars 132 and 134 extend upwardly and carry and support at their upper ends the cutting block 76. Additionally,

bar 132 carries a section of rack 136. Transverse shaft 138 is rotatably supported in carriage 90 and carries on its one end pinion 140 positioned to engage with rack 136. Thus, as carriage 90 moves up and down within its guide channels and 82, the shaft 138 rotates. The end of shaft 138 opposite pinion 140 carries bevel gear 142. An angular shaft 144 extends downwardly and forwardly with respect to carriage and extends out of the front side thereof. Shaft 144 carries bevel pinion 146 in engagement with bevel gear 142. The shaft 144 in its extension out of the front of carriage 90 carries thereon a hook 148 as is best seen in FIGURE 4. The hook is of suitable configuration so that when it rotates in a direction of motion caused by downward travel of carriage 90, it is adapted to engage the tie material and twist it. Such engagement is shown in FIGURE 6. The carriage 90 is provided with a shelf extending out of the front thereof and below the hook 148.

The channel 26 is provided at its upper end with previously mentioned guide 78. This guide is urged by spring 152 against a back wall 154 of the channel 26. This inlet channel configuration permits the bag to be pressed together so that its open end is closed, and permits the cut off piece of tie material at the top of the channel to be folded around the closed end of the bag and Icarried downwardly to the tying hook. When the carriage 90 is in its uppermost position as in the beginning of a tying operation, the tying hook 144 is adjacent the lower end of guide 78.

In operation the bag tying machine 10 starts in a position as indicated in FIGURE 2. In this position the carriage 90 is in its upward location, and a length of the tying material 36 is lying at the top of guide channel 26. The machine operator takes a bag which is to be tied, closes the end by twisting or squeezing, and presses the end of the bag to be tied downwardly through the guide slot 28. The guide 78 squeezes the neck of the bag closed against the guide back wall 154 and the cut off length of tie material is folded around the bag neck with its ends extending upwardly. When the neck of the bag is pressed by the operator down to the shelf 150, the loose ends of the tie material 36 are extending upwardly. As seen in FIGURE 2 they are then adjacent the tying hook 148. Now the operator manually presses downwardly upon the bag, and with the bag resting upon a shelf the carriage 90 moves downwardly. This motion causes the hook 148 to rotate, to grasp the upwardly extending loose ends of the tying material 36 and to twist them tightly around the closed neck of the bag. As the downward motion of the carriage 90 progresses, the chain 160 turns sprocket 64 which in turn through the one-way clutch drive rotates feed roll 60. Feed roll 60 in conjunction with its idler 58 feeds new tie material forwardly through aperture 74 onto the top of guide 78 to be ready for the next bag tying operation. With downward motion of the carriage 90 twisting of the tie material is continued at the tying hook 148 and feeding continues of the tie strip 36 until the carriage 90 reaches its downwa-rdmost position. Thereupon the operator pulls the neck of the bag forwardly toward himself into the exit area 28 and then draws the tied bag out of the exit area 28.

As soon as the bag neck is withdrawn from shelf 150 the carriage 90 is urged upwardly by means `of spring 110 and chain 106. Upward motion causes the -top of the carriage 90 to contact the bottom of the cutting bottom 126 of cutting blade 122 to thrust the cutting blade 122 across the aperture 74 to thereby cut off another length of tie material 36. During this upward motion the oneway clutch in the drive between the sprocket 68 and the feed roll 60 does not permit driving motion. Thus the strand lies stationary during the upward motion of carriage 90. After cut off of the strand into a new length of tie material 36, the springs 128 and 130 push the carringe downwardly to a balanced condition where the aperture 74 is open. The machine is then ready for another bag tying operation.

When one spool 34 of bag tying material 36 is used to exhaustion, or it is desired to change to another size or lstyle of bag tying -material 36, the spool 34 is removed by retracting spring 38 by means of manual engagement with -bent end 50. The old spool is withdrawn manually and a new spool is held in position exterior to the bag tying machine. The end of the bag tying material 36 from the new spool is fed into the aperture 30 and introduced into the spring guide 54. After it is inserted as far as the rollers 58 and 60, an operation of the carriage 9D will feed the new material forward. Thereupon the new spool 34 is inserted through the aperture 30 after retracting spring 38 by means of manual engagement with the bent end 50 thereof. The bag tying machine is now ready for operation with a new spool of material.

It is obvious to those skilled in the art that this bag tying machine is susceptible to numerous modifications. These modifications are within the routine of standard engineering and it is desired to cover those within the scope of this invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims is deemed to define the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a bag tying machine, a carriage movable from a first position to a second position, said movement being accomplished by manual eng-agement with a bag to be tied upon a portion of said carriage, bag tying means mounted upon the carriage and actuated by motion of the carriage from said first position to said second position, said bag tying means being positioned to engage and tie tie material which is around the neck of the bag, means for feeding a preselected length of bag tying material when said carriage moves from said first position to said second position, and means for cutting off the fed strand of bag tying material when said carriage moves from said second position to said first position.

2. In a bag tying machine:

a carriage movable from a first position to a second position, said movement being arranged to be accomplished by manual means, said carriage being guided during its movement from said first to said second position;

bag tying means mounted on said carriage and arranged to be actuated during motion of said carriage from said first position to said second position, said bag tying means being actuated by motion of said carriage from said first position to said second position;

feeding means arranged for feeding a strand of bag tying material, said feeding means being operatively connected to said carriage, said feeding means being effective for feeding during motion of said carriage from said first position to said second position and being ineffective for feeding during motion of said carriage from said second position to said first position; and

cut off means arranged to cut off the bag tying material, said cut off means being actuated by motion of said carriage from said second position to said first position, whereby a complete cycle of operation of said 'bag tying means includes motion of said carriage from said first position to said second position for feeding of the bag tying material and tying of the bag and return of said carriage from said second position to said first position for cutting the fed strand.

3. The structure o-f claim 2 wherein said bag tying material feeding mechanism includes a one way drive which is operable during motion of said carriage from said first position to said second position and is inoperable during motion of said carriage from said second position to said first position.

4. In a bag tying machine, having a main frame, bag guide means in said frame to guide the direction of a bag during tying, carriage guide means in said frame, a carriage mounted for relative motion upon said carriage guide means, said carriage guide means guiding said carriage in a direction substantially parallel to said bag guide means, bag tying means mounted upon said carriage and extending in a position adjacent said bag guide means, said bag tying means being actuated by motion of said carriage along said carriage guide means from a rst to a second position, bag tying material feeding means 10- cated upon said frame, said bag tying material feeding means being connected to said carriage and being actuated for feeding the bag tying material when said carriage is moved from said first to said second position, said connection between said feeding means and said carriage being such that said feeding means is inoperative when said carriage moves from said second to said first position, and bag tying material cut ofi means located upon said frame and actuated by said carriage as said carriage moves from its second position to first position.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein said connection between said feed means and said carriage is a one-way clutch.

6. In a bag tying machine having a main frame, guide means in said frame for bags being tied, guide means in said frame for a carriage, said carriage guide means being arranged to support and guide said carriage adjacent to and substantially parallel to said bag guide means, bag tying means mounted on said carriage and extending adjacent said guide bag means, actuation means on said carriage arranged to be engaged by a bag being tied to urge said carriage along said carriage guide means from a first to a second position, drive means for said bag tying means, said drive means for said bag tying means being actuated by relative motion between said carriage and said main frame in accordance with motion imparted to said carriage by the bag, and return means attached to said carriage and to said frame to return said carriage from said second position to said first position.

7. The structure of claim 6 wherein said return means includes a spring which is stressed when said carriage moves from said first position to said second position.

8. The structure of claim 6 further including bag tying material feeding means, said feeding means being actuated to feed bag tying material when said carriage moves from said first position to said second position, and being ineffective to feed said material when said carriage moves from said second position to said first position.

9. The structure of claim 8 further including means to cut 0E the strand of bag tying material, said cut off means being actuated by motion of said carriage from said second position to said first position.

10. The structure of claim 9 further including mounting means for storage of bag tying material, said mounting means being arranged to permit the material to pass from storage to said feed means.

11. In a bag tying machine, guide means for a bag to be tied, a carriage, guide means for said carriage to guide said carriage adjacent to said bag guide means and in a direction substantially parallel to said bag guide means, said carriage guide means permitting motion of said carriage from a first position to a second position, a pair of feed rolls w-ithin said bag tying machine, said feed rolls engaging bag tying material therebetween, said feed rolls being actuated to feed the bag tying material when said carriage moves from said first to said second position, said feed means feeding the bag tying material into a position at the top of said bag guide means whereby the bag tying material can be engaged by a bag upon introduction of the bag into said bag guide means, tying means mounted upon said carriage and actuated by motion of said carriage from said first position to said second position, said tying means `being positioned adjacent said bag guide means when said carriage is in said first position, said -bag tying means being arranged to grasp and tie bag tying material positioned around the neck of the bag to be tied, and bag tie material cut oi means located in said Vbag tying machine adjacent said first position of said carn'age and adjacent said feed means, said bag tie material being cut of by said cut off means upon motion of said carriage from said second position to said rst position.

12. The structure of claim 11 wherein said bag tie material feed means is ineiective during motion of said carriage from said second position to said first position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Leighton 53-135 X Knueger et a1 53-198 Casey 53-198 Gibbons 53-198 FRANK E. BAILEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A BAG TYING MACHINE, A CARRIAGE MOVABLE FROM A FIRST POSITION TO A SECOND POSITION, SAID MOVEMENT BEING ACCOMPLISHED BY MANUAL ENGAGMENT WITH A BAG TO BE TIED UPON A PORTION OF SAID CARRIAGE, BAG TYING MEANS MOUNTED UPON THE CARRIAGE AND ACTUATED BY MOTION OF THE CARRIAGE FROM SAID FIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION, SAID BAG TYING MEANS BEING POSITIONED TO ENGAGE AND TIE TIE MATERIAL WHICH IS AROUND THE NECK OF THE BAG, MEANS FOR FEEDING A PRESELECTED LENGTH OF BAG TYING MATERIAL WHEN SAID CARRIAGE MOVES FROM SAID FIRST POSITION TO SAID SECOND POSITION, AND MEANS FOR CUTTING OFF THE FED STRAND OF BAG TYING MATERIAL WHEN SAID CARRIAGE MOVES FROM SAID SECOND POSITION TO SAID FIRST POSITION. 